Starbourne, page 28
Was it possible that his friends had lost their fight? Surely three of them could have taken the last remaining sentry. But what if some of his friends had died in the crash? Maybe he was the last surviving member.
As Jaeden ran through the scenarios in his mind, he scaled one of the earthen ripples caused by the crashed freighter to get a better view. Standing on the crest of the mound, he could see where his own craft had crashed, parallel with the larger ship. A small electrical fire had broken out on the craft; several silhouettes could be made out in front of the fiery embers. Seeing Jaeden on the mound of dirt, one of the figures pointed towards him.
Instinctively, Jaeden raised an arm to identify himself as he carefully navigated down the pile of rubble. Jaeden wondered if the figures he approached were in fact his friends, and not a group of survivors from the freighter. The thought caused him some concern, and he tightened his grip on the pistol as he approached. As before, the vague shapes couldn’t be made out in the darkness, but as he closed the distance familiar faces greeted him.
Teagen allowed herself a slight smile as Jaeden approached. He responded with a smile of his own and added a nod. He was glad to see that she had regrouped with them on the ground, her bike likely parked nearby. Behind Teagen, Nyx was kneeling over a corpse, wiping down a katana blade. Upon closer inspection, the corpse was in fact a sentry, no doubt the final robotic guard. Nyx glanced over but made no effort to acknowledge him further than that.
“Was that you shootin’ over there?” Hoss asked excitedly, moving to slap Jaeden on the back.
Jaeden looked back over his shoulder from the direction he had come from. “Yeah, scratched a sentry off behind the ship.”
“Right on, I think that makes four then, right?” Hoss asked to no one in particular.
“I believe so,” Teagen responded.
“Alright, so back to the job!” Hoss exclaimed, pointing his pistol towards the downed freighter.
“You guys are some serious amateurs,” Nyx remarked, sheathing his blade.
The trio of mercenaries looked back towards Nyx. He tapped commands onto his wrist jockey and murmured to himself under his breath.
“Nyx, you coming?” Hoss asked with a tilted head.
“No, I’m not coming,” He spat. “You crashed our damn ship. I’ve got to get us a ride out of here.”
“Do you want us to keep going without you?” Jaeden asked, using his free hand to rub his temples. His head was pounding from the crash.
Nyx dramatically flapped his arms at his side and stared at Jaeden. “Nahh, I think we should just hang out here for a bit. Maybe when city sec comes, they can bring some marshmallows and we can roast them over the burning corpses inside the corporate research ship we shot down.”
Jaeden glanced towards Hoss and Teagen and put his hand up before stepping away from the group. Nyx’s sharp tongue had a way of getting under Jaeden’s skin. He knew the position they were in was fragile, but the sarcasm and jibes at his expense weren’t helping remedy the situation. Jaeden turned his attention back to the downed freighter and allowed Hoss and Teagen to handle the irate Technologist.
“We’ll head inside and retrieve the target.” Teagen finally said, trying to move past the tense atmosphere.
“Hey, now that’s a great idea, wish I had thought of that,” Nyx said, looking back down at his jockey. “Almost as if that’s the whole reason you morons were brought here.”
Teagen opened her mouth to respond, but clearly thought better of it. She shook her head and moved up to join Jaeden overlooking the freighter. Hoss looked back and forth from Nyx to his friends, finally choosing to join the latter. The three now stood shoulder to shoulder and departed towards the downed corporate ship. Hoss glanced back towards Nyx one last time, possibly to advise him that they were off, but decided against it.
As they approached the freighter, they could hear a whooping alarm blaring inside the ship as light escaped through the open door. Whatever they were to find inside, the ship at least had enough power generating to keep the lights on. The three mercenaries took a moment to ready their gear. They exchanged nods with one another, and one by one entered the freighter.
“Want a lifelong companion that never disagrees with you, but fear the staggering emotional weight when they inevitably pass away? Forever Friends has the answer for you! Introducing our new line of robotic pets! These friends will never stop as long as you keep them charged!”
(Jens Anders, President of Forever Friends)
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Weapons at the ready, Jaeden, Hoss, and Teagen cautiously entered the ship through the airlock. They found themselves in a long splitting corridor. The hall was empty, apart from a few large plastic containers. The crash had caused significant damaged to the exterior of the ship, but the interior had suffered relatively little.
“Sheesh, it’s bigger than I thought it would be,” Hoss said, peering up and down the length of the hall. Hoss knelt on one knee and adjusted his boot, which at some point had become untied.
“That’s because those dirks told us it would be a shuttle, not a flipping freighter,” Jaeden said, tilting his head to the side. The burn on his neck ached and itched fiercely. It took much of Jaeden’s willpower to fight the urge to touch it.
“We will discuss that later; we are in danger at present. We need to act quickly.” Teagen said, eyes firmly locked ahead.
“Aces, what’s the plan T?” Hoss asked, rising back to his feet.
“I have compiled a crude floor map based on my scans.” Teagen started, “I believe the component we are looking for will be located in the hanger further into the ship.”
“See anyone on the scans we should be concerned about?” Hoss asked, raising his pistol.
“Undetermined,” Teagen said, shaking her head.
“Aces,” Hoss started, “We should be–”
“Barring in mind that the sentries outside also failed to register on my scans, we should maintain discipline,” Teagen added.
“Good call,” Jaeden said, readying his own pistol. “Alright, let’s do it.”
Pressing onwards, Teagen led Hoss and Jaeden towards the bridge of the ship. Passing several rooms and branching corridors, Teagen led the group through the freighter until they reached a large doorway. From inside the room, the group could hear panicked voices.
Teagen gestured to Hoss and Jaeden that they would enter slowly. Both nodded their understanding and moved to comply. Jaeden examined the expansive atrium as he entered. Comfortable looking couches and long tables were toppled in a heap, likely a result of the crash landing. Vending machines and other food and drink dispensaries lined the far wall. Jaeden saw two other corridors leading out of the room, and further into the freighter. The ship was huge.
Jaeden counted four injured employees laying on couch cushions on the floor. Crimson-soaked bandages had been wrapped around the injured employees; some on their heads, some on the limbs. A fifth employee wearing a white lab coat, knelt over one of his injured coworkers. He held a small injector in his hand as he applied the treatment to the injured woman.
“So much for a crewless ship,” Jaeden muttered under his breath.
“None of this is what we were told,” Teagen said, looking over her shoulder toward Hoss.
Feeling the heat of her gaze, Hoss jumped into action to gain control over the surviving employees. “Drop your weapon!” Hoss demanded. He sprinted into the center of the ships lounge and pointed his pistol at the man with purpose.
“I-I-I don’t have one!” The man stuttered, raising his hands as far as he could reach.
“No weapon?” Hoss shouted back.
“N-no weapon!” The man repeated.
“What’s that weapon?” Hoss demanded, pointing towards the injector.
The man looked at the injector, his head quivering uncontrollably. “It’s not–”
“Not a weapon? Looks like a weapon!” Hoss shouted, shaking his gun in the mans face. “I know a weapon when I see one, my guy!”
The man dropped the injector and bowed his head low. “S-sorry! It’s a just medical injector!”
“Good, so then now, go stand over there then,” Hoss commanded, gesturing with his pistol.
The man quickly complied and shuffled over to an upturned couch. Jaeden blew lip bubbles and rubbed the back of his neck. This job had gone so far off the rails in such a short period of time. Were any of their plans still likely to work? He supposed the escape plan was still intact. Or was it?
Jaeden looked at the injured employees, and then the man shivering in the corner. There were witnesses now. There wasn’t supposed to be any witnesses. Surely when the rescue teams speak with these people, they would say that three plain dressed thieves jumped aboard and held them at gunpoint. Hoss, Jaeden, and Teagen hadn’t even taken the precaution of wearing masks this time.
“How many armed sentries were installed on this craft?” Teagen asked.
“F-four, we had four sentries.” The shaking man responded.
“Good, so we’re in the clear,” Hoss said.
“Unless he’s lying,” Jaeden pointed out. “Keep on your toes.”
Hoss spun on the man, pointing his gun towards him. “You lying to me, my guy?”
“N-no! We only had f-four!” The man stammered.
“Ho–” Jaeden started. He cringed to himself as he nearly said Hoss name out loud in the room with the witnesses. “Hey guy. Lay off would you.” Jaeden approached Hoss and put his hand on the extended gun.
Teagen approached Hoss and Jaeden and leaned into their conversation. “We need to get the asset. You two go on to the cargo bay. I’ll stay here and watch these ones.”
“These ones?” Hoss asked, his nose wrinkling.
“There may be more aboard this ship. Be careful.” She instructed, turning to attend to one of the injured employees.
“Two halls, which way should we go?” Hoss asked, rolling his shoulders, and rubbing his neck.
Jaeden examined the corridor on the left, and then the corridor on the right. To his delight, a sign posted above the corridor on the right read ‘Cargo Bay’.
Pointing at the sign Jaeden started forward. “When in doubt, follow the signs.”
Jaeden and Hoss moved down the corridor, following the markings on the walls until finally they found the door marked ‘Cargo Bay’. Taking up positions on either side of the door, Jaeden opened the door slowly. Hoss peered his head inside the room for a moment. When he pulled his head back into the hall, he flashed Jaeden a thumbs up, and then moved into the room. Jaeden followed closely behind.
Under a flicking light fixture, Jaeden saw racks upon racks of equipment and crates. The room itself was the largest aboard the ship Jaeden had seen so far. On the far side, there appeared to be a lift of some kind that would likely act as the loading dock. This had to be where their target was.
Some of the shelves had tipped over and their contents were strewn about the floor. Heaps of objects, crates and other obstacles made traversing the room difficult. Jaeden and Hoss weaved through the chaos, finding narrow pathways they could walk without scaling the piles of junk.
Sounds of metal scrapping emerged from the center of the room. Jaeden and Hoss looked at each other and nodded. They raised their weapons high, in anticipation of a fight. Sneaking the rest of the way, the two men reached the center of the room.
From his position, Jaeden could make out a man in a white lab coat hunched over a large silver metallic crate with a RusaCorp logo on the side. The crate was longer than it was wide, almost like a weapons case. The man clenched something tightly in his hand as he fumbled with the clasps on the crate. Jaeden quickly glanced around and saw no other movement in the room.
“Get out from under there,” Jaeden demanded.
The scientist moved to duck and hide, but Hoss cut off his escape. He grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him to his feet.
“Please don’t hurt me!” The scientist pleaded.
“You don’t listen so well, do you?” Hoss said, shaking the man by the collar. “New management is in, you gotta’ listen, okay?”
“I will, I’m sorry. It was a poor decision.” The scientist said, dropping his hands to his sides and resigning himself to Hoss’ commands.
Hoss smirked, dropping his focus to the id badge clipped to the scientist’s lab coat. “That’s more like it, Armand.”
“What’s that you were working on?” Jaeden asked.
“Nothing; just some personal effects.”
“Personal effects, huh?” Hoss asked, walking over to the crate. “Now I may not work for RusaCorp, but I know the company logo when I see it.” He continued, tapping the toe of his boot against the logo on the crate.
“What’s in the crate?” Jaeden asked.
Armand clenched his jaw and turned his head away from Jaeden.
Hoss frowned deeply and shook Armand once more. “Hey, what did I just say about listening?”
“It’s just a decommissioned piece of tech.”
“Why you trying to open it?” Jaeden asked, “Is it a weapon you were going to try and use on us?”
“I spent my life working on this and it’s being sent to an incinerator.” Armand explained, “I was going to try and take it with me and get out of here.
“And what’s this in your hand?” Hoss asked, reaching for the mans clenched fist.
“Nothing,” Armand protested, pulling his hand away from Hoss. “It’s just my research.”
“Give it to me,” Hoss demanded, gripping the man’s wrist tightly.
Armand’s lips quivered, and he shook his head. “It’s of no value to you.”
“I think maybe your ears don’t work too well,” Hoss growled, pressing his pistol into the side of Armand’s face. “Maybe I give you a couple new ears to help, what do you think?”
Armand closed his eyes tightly. His bottom lip quivered as he bowed his head. He loosened the grip and opened his palm up flat, exposing a small orange data drive. Jaeden focused his eyes on the small object to get a better look.
Without warning, Jaeden’s cybernetic eyes activated, and an image of the object popped up as a projected three-dimensional image only visible to Jaeden. The image slowly spun in circles, with detailed analysis popping up around the framework of the object.
The device in the image appeared to be a standard data drive with no discernible markings other than a RusaCorp company logo on the side of the drive. Jaeden blinked several times attempting to close the image out of his vision.
Hoss snatched up the drive and examined it briefly, before tucking it away into a pocket. “That’s what I thought. The next time I tell you to do something, you do it.” He raised his hand to strike the man for emphasis.
“That’s quite enough.” A woman’s voice barked from behind Jaeden.
Both Jaeden and Hoss spun around, weapons at the ready. Jaeden watched as a woman in a white lab coat stepped out from hiding. Unlike the other employees, this one did not seem all that afraid. Instead, Jaeden detected she was annoyed more than anything.
“Who the hades are you?” Jaeden asked, tilting his gun sideways in the woman’s direction.
“Elena Navarra; I’m a RusaCorp engineer.”
“Engineer?” Hoss repeated, grabbing hold of the man’s collar once more. “You don’t look like an engineer. You look more like a scientist. Stop lying to us.”
Elena sighed and crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “I’m an artificial intelligence applications engineer.”
Hoss glanced to Jaeden, then back to Elena. “Right, so… say that next time.”
“You the boss on this tub?” Jaeden asked, keeping a keen eye out for anyone else lurking in the room.
“At present, I’m likely the highest-ranking company official, yes,” Elena responded indifferently.
“Then why aren’t you with the others? Looking after the wounded?” Jaeden pressed.
“Because Owens had the matter in hand, and I had other duties to attend to.”
Hoss lowered his pistol and examined the woman. “What do you think we should do with her, Ja–” Jaeden shoved Hoss’ shoulder.
Don’t say my name you idiot.
“Ja-ja… Jagamo.” Hoss said, cheeks flushing red. “What do you think, you Jagamo, you?”
“Take them back with the others.” Jaeden said, “I’ll keep looking for what we’re after. You and Number Three can watch over–”
“Number Three?” Hoss repeated.
“Number Three. Yes.” Jaeden confirmed, widening his eyes at Hoss. If Jaeden could plead through his eyes, he was trying right now.
“Ahh, aces. Good idea.” Hoss said.
“If I may,” Elena started, moving towards the exit under Hoss’ guard. “I could caution you to reconsider your actions.”
I’m right there with you lady, but we’re in too deep now. Jaeden thought.
“Move it, Elenore,” Hoss said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s Elena.” She responded, moving on ahead of him.
Hoss led the two employees out of the cargo bay and back towards the lounge with the others. Jaeden pressed his face into his hands and exhaled deeply. The burn on his neck continued to ache, and his ribs were killing him. All he wanted was to sit down and rest for a moment. But he had to press on.
Jaeden turned over his wrist and opened the planning file on his wrist jockey. Before the mission, Hoss had shared images of what their asset looked like. It had to be somewhere in this room. As the image loaded, he scanned over the room.
The flickering light above only added to the chaos he saw. Crates and boxes and barrels everywhere. No perceivable rhyme or reason to the mess. At least, not since the crash tossed everything out of order. This was going to take a lot of time. Time, they didn’t have.
Looking back down at his wrist jockey, Jaeden furrowed his brow. The image showed a large silver metallic case, with a RusaCorp logo on the side of it.
“Wait a minute…” Jaeden mumbled under his breath. He looked at the image, and then at the crate the scientist had been fiddling with. They looked identical to one another.
